New Atlanticist

Sharp insights and bold ideas from across the Council

From climate change to the China challenge and the contest between democracy and dictatorship, the New Atlanticist is where top experts and policymakers at the Atlantic Council and beyond offer exclusive insight on the most pressing global challenges—and the US role in addressing them alongside allies and partners.

The Council’s flagship section features big ideas, groundbreaking research, lightning-fast expert reactions, in-depth analyses, and thought-provoking commentary to shape public policy.

New Atlanticist
Sep 4, 2025

Dispatches from Damascus: The state of Syria’s postwar transition nine months after Assad’s fall

On a recent trip to the Syrian capital, Atlantic Council experts took note of how far the country has come since the Assad regime’s fall and what still needs to happen to secure peace and prosperity.

New Atlanticist
Aug 29, 2025

Twenty questions (and expert answers) about the negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine

By
Atlantic Council experts

August saw a flurry of diplomatic activity to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As September nears, Atlantic Council experts share their insights on what to expect next.

Conflict
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

New Atlanticist
Aug 28, 2025

Germany wants to double its defense spending. Where should the money go?

By
Atlantic Council experts

After decades of Berlin underinvesting in its defense, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has plans to transform the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest military.

Defense Policy
Europe & Eurasia

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Dive deep into developing stories, guided by continually updated expert analysis that leaves you better informed about the most pressing global issues behind the headlines.

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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Feb 26, 2013

Xbox Dreadnought?

By Julian Lindley-French

HMS Dreadnought at a stroke condemned every other battleship on the planet to the scrap yard. Launched in 1906 she represented a revolutionary step change in ship design combining big guns and new Parsons steam turbines with heavy armor in such a way that she could out-gun, out-pace and out-protect any battleship afloat. Is warfare about to […]

Cybersecurity
Drones

New Atlanticist

Feb 25, 2013

How the US Should Respond to Chinese Cyberespionage

By Jason Healey

A U.S. cybersecurity company has released details proving beyond any reasonable doubt that the Chinese military, through its Unit 61398, has intruded into at least 141 organizations over seven years, stealing terabytes of data from each. Now that attribution is clear (and, more importantly, public) the U.S. government has its best opportunity in years to […]

China
Cybersecurity

New Atlanticist

Feb 25, 2013

The United States Should Contain Threats and Embrace Dignity in the Middle East

By Michele Dunne and Barry Pavel

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have chosen wisely to visit the Middle East early in Mr. Obama’s second term, but when they go, will they have anything new to say? U.S. interests are at significant risk as the region continues to undergo profound changes and instability, and Arab and European allies […]

Middle East
North Africa

New Atlanticist

Feb 25, 2013

Niger needs more than drones

By J. Peter Pham

President Barack Obama informed Congressional leaders on Friday that approximately one hundred American military personnel have been deployed to Niger to “provide support for intelligence collection and . . . facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners” fighting al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies. While […]

National Security
Sahel

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2013

Tunisia and the Clash Within Civilizations

By Rajan Menon

Earlier this month, Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid was shot dead outside his home. Belaid’s death has shaken Tunisia, but it also illuminates larger trends in the post-revolution Arab world.

Elections
North Africa

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2013

“Let Freedom Live!”

By Julian Lindley-French

Seventy years ago today three young German students were led to a guillotine by the Gestapo in Stadelheim Prison and brutally executed. Siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst faced death with immense courage, something even the Gestapo acknowledged. As the blade began its death fall Hans Scholl shouted out “Let freedom live!” With […]

Germany

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2013

Security Force Assistance: It’s Not Just for Weak States

By Derek Reveron

Doctrinally, security force assistance (SFA) is a set of activities to develop the capacity and capabilities of foreign security forces and their supporting institutions. We often associate SFA with weak states, where the United States enables partner countries such as Pakistan, Colombia, and Yemen to combat challenges that threaten their own security and regional stability.

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2013

The Pyongyang Persian Pickle

By Harlan Ullman

In English slang, “pickle” means a bad situation or a state of disorder. The provenance is Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” And pickle well applies to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, Iran and U.S. policy.

Korea
Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2013

Israel Not Pushing Obama to Arm Syrian Rebels

By Barbara Slavin

A lack of Israeli pressure for the U.S. to intervene and Israel’s ability to go after sensitive targets in Syria on its own are factors in the Barack Obama administration’s reluctance to get more deeply involved in the Syrian civil war. Despite reports that the U.S. may be reconsidering its rejection of calls to arm […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 20, 2013

Obama’s Chance for a Legacy

By Frederick Kempe

President Barack Obama devoted just one sentence in last week’s State of the Union address to call for a new transatlantic trade and investment deal. However, if negotiated with sufficient ambition and presidential engagement, it is Obama’s best chance yet at leaving a positive foreign policy legacy.

Economy & Business
European Union

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